John-NYBW The Lion's point is well taken although he exaggerates the amount of inflation over the last 40 years. My inflation calculator tells me the cost of living has only tripled in the last 40 years, not gone up tenfold. You have to go back to 1958 to find when the dollar was worth ten times more than what it is now. Gasoline price is a bad metric to go by because the price fluctuates so wildly in the short term. Just a few years ago we were paying about $2 a gallon.
The Lion's point is well taken although he exaggerates the amount of inflation over the last 40 years. My inflation calculator tells me the cost of living has only tripled in the last 40 years, not gone up tenfold. You have to go back to 1958 to find when the dollar was worth ten times more than what it is now. Gasoline price is a bad metric to go by because the price fluctuates so wildly in the short term. Just a few years ago we were paying about $2 a gallon.
If you look at houses and cars, it is easy to see to see at least 8x from the mid 60's to now.
Gasoline is sometimes artifically high or low, sometimes for long periods, but still, it was 35 cents a gallon when I started driving right before the 70's gas crunch and and even if we use pre current events it was $3 just a bit ago. That seems like close to 10X even using the low prices of the respective eras.
Again, a lot of model train stuff just 15 or 20 years ago was priced well below the inflation adjusted prices when compared to the 1960's or 70's - it is now making an adjustment.....
Athearn purposely held the line on prices from the 70's to the early 90's because they could - all their tooling was paid for. Erv was a smart guy who did not depend on banks like these manufacturers today. Then the market changed and the new owners had to invest money...... and it is still one of the most value added products in the market.
Sheldon
hon30critter John-NYBW I've told my relatives it is my intention to die penniless but it's going to require perfect timing. My dad always told me to make sure I bounced the last cheque! Fact: Model trains cost money! Fact: I still have both of my arms and both of my legs! Cheers!! Dave
John-NYBW I've told my relatives it is my intention to die penniless but it's going to require perfect timing.
My dad always told me to make sure I bounced the last cheque!
Fact: Model trains cost money!
Fact: I still have both of my arms and both of my legs!
Cheers!!
Dave
I have paid off my credit cards in full every month for the last 40 years so I don't ever pay any interest. As I get near the end, it would make sense to pay the minimum each month until I've maxed them all out. It sure would make it easier to plan if I knew when that end was.
southernpacificgs4 I saw with some months of delay the October 2021 new product announcement from Walthers and I was surprised by the price of a particular passenger car. The Pullman-Standard Bi-Level commuter cars. For a standard car the price is 89.98 dollars and for a lighted cars it is 99.98 dollars. If you want to have a decent train with minimum 5 cars this will cost you 499.90 dollars in the lighted version and this without a locomotive. What was the price of these cars when Walthers released them for the first time? I guess that these price will kill the model train hobby for a lot of people. We as model train enthusiast has also contributed to this evolution by asking more and more details on our models with the consequence of higher prices of the models. And as a result of this urge of more realism with details hanging beneath the cars are that those cars are limited to run on a minimum radius of 24 inches. Did we as model train enthusiast shoot ourselves in the foot, 10 or 20 years ago by asking (no we demanded) more and more details? I think that model manufactures are crossing a red line by asking those prices? Will model trains in the future only for the "rich people"?
I saw with some months of delay the October 2021 new product announcement from Walthers and I was surprised by the price of a particular passenger car.
The Pullman-Standard Bi-Level commuter cars.
For a standard car the price is 89.98 dollars and for a lighted cars it is 99.98 dollars.
If you want to have a decent train with minimum 5 cars this will cost you 499.90 dollars in the lighted version and this without a locomotive.
What was the price of these cars when Walthers released them for the first time?
I guess that these price will kill the model train hobby for a lot of people.
We as model train enthusiast has also contributed to this evolution by asking more and more details on our models with the consequence of higher prices of the models. And as a result of this urge of more realism with details hanging beneath the cars are that those cars are limited to run on a minimum radius of 24 inches.
Did we as model train enthusiast shoot ourselves in the foot, 10 or 20 years ago by asking (no we demanded) more and more details?
I think that model manufactures are crossing a red line by asking those prices?
Will model trains in the future only for the "rich people"?
That is a matter of economics and inflation and has nothing to do with model railroading.
You say a pax car costs $89.00. Thatg is roughly the same price as it was 40 years ago... (8.90) Everything (including your salary) has gone up by a factor of 10
I remeber when Gasoline was 31c a gallon, last I looked it was more than $5.00 a gallon.
I remember when a candy bar was 5c, now it is $1.25
I remember when a bottle of Pepsi was 12c (2c was deposit on the glass), Now you can pay 3.00 for it at the C Store.
NOW Then, I could tell you how to fix this, but the Forum does not allow politics.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
John-NYBWI've told my relatives it is my intention to die penniless but it's going to require perfect timing.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
ATLANTIC CENTRAL The wife and I decided long ago, the will is going to say "being of sound mind and body we spent it all", not even close yet. Sheldon
The wife and I decided long ago, the will is going to say "being of sound mind and body we spent it all", not even close yet.
I've told my relatives it is my intention to die penniless but it's going to require perfect timing.
selector NorthsideChi Reading that these type of threads get locked is just one of many reasons entry into the hobby is intimidating to some. Someone should be able to say, "this hobby costs a ton. Can someone post links to _____ type of setup I want to do?" But I believe posting links to items for sale is also not allowed. So we're just stuck making vague or sometimes overly complicated recommendations at risk of deterring or confusing a potential new hobbiest. Every culture has a history that begets the culture. It's no different here. When I joined the forum in early 2005, I soon saw that there were some rough crewmembers who ran roughshod over those who just wanted to come and enjoy the coffee and shoot the breeze about our common interest...model trains, or their full-sized equivalents. There was some heavy trolling, and it really tore the place up. It took about three years, but some volunteer member-moderators, sanctioned by our hosts at Kalmbach, managed to weed out the troublemakers and the culture improved. Earlier than that, though, the forum's rules posted by our hosts prohibited talk of certain kinds. This was because of.....wait for it....history. It was always the case that some topics devolved into pokie-chest, foul language, ad hominem attacks, and so on. So, topics that could lead to accusations of a kind, or threats of a kind, were strictly prohibited. Our hosts felt that sales between members was necessarily included. It's as simple as that. I think it could be handled differently, perhaps on a separate sub-forum, but our hosts' resources are limited and they don't want to accept the burden of policing a sub-forum which would almost certainly evolve into a series of contentious claims, recriminations, finger-pointing, etc. Money talks, sometimes in unseemly ways.
NorthsideChi Reading that these type of threads get locked is just one of many reasons entry into the hobby is intimidating to some. Someone should be able to say, "this hobby costs a ton. Can someone post links to _____ type of setup I want to do?" But I believe posting links to items for sale is also not allowed. So we're just stuck making vague or sometimes overly complicated recommendations at risk of deterring or confusing a potential new hobbiest.
Reading that these type of threads get locked is just one of many reasons entry into the hobby is intimidating to some. Someone should be able to say, "this hobby costs a ton. Can someone post links to _____ type of setup I want to do?" But I believe posting links to items for sale is also not allowed. So we're just stuck making vague or sometimes overly complicated recommendations at risk of deterring or confusing a potential new hobbiest.
Every culture has a history that begets the culture. It's no different here. When I joined the forum in early 2005, I soon saw that there were some rough crewmembers who ran roughshod over those who just wanted to come and enjoy the coffee and shoot the breeze about our common interest...model trains, or their full-sized equivalents. There was some heavy trolling, and it really tore the place up. It took about three years, but some volunteer member-moderators, sanctioned by our hosts at Kalmbach, managed to weed out the troublemakers and the culture improved.
Earlier than that, though, the forum's rules posted by our hosts prohibited talk of certain kinds. This was because of.....wait for it....history. It was always the case that some topics devolved into pokie-chest, foul language, ad hominem attacks, and so on. So, topics that could lead to accusations of a kind, or threats of a kind, were strictly prohibited. Our hosts felt that sales between members was necessarily included.
It's as simple as that. I think it could be handled differently, perhaps on a separate sub-forum, but our hosts' resources are limited and they don't want to accept the burden of policing a sub-forum which would almost certainly evolve into a series of contentious claims, recriminations, finger-pointing, etc. Money talks, sometimes in unseemly ways.
That's a good point. Let up some slack and it gets out of control again
Anyways, Ive been helping a few people get into the hobby and I suggest DC since those trains are more affordable and the layout can always be switched over. I told them I'd convert locos if they ever needed help. I also recommend they stay away from involved landscaping techniques at the beginning. just paint the table, tack down corkbed and track for now with switch stubs for expansion.
PeterI simply fell in love with my 0-6-0, it must have at least 2000 hours running time on it. All of my layouts have been a loop of some kind and my little 0-6-0 would run the loop as I worked on my layout.The only thing that has been replaced is the main frame/chasses, in about 1993 it took the big drop from the layout to the concrete floor and broke off the engineers side front step. I was really sick over the damage.
I called MDC (remember them) and talked to a very gracious lady. Explaining what had happened, she was super helpful and sent me a new frame/chassis at NO Charge. I received the new frame a couple of days later.The frame was for a newer locomotive, can motor.I called her back and before I could tell her it was the wrong one she quickly apologized saying she was very sorry and that the correct frame was on the way.
I told her I would return the incorrect part and she refused saying I might want to replace the old Pittman motor with a can motor some day.
Both locomotives run great so I have a spare frame.The old open frame Pittman motors run very nicely on either DC or a Digitrax decoder.Any wonder why my MDC locomotives are my favorites? Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 last July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
RR_MelIn 1950 a buddy a few doors up the street from me contracted Shingles and died, his Mother ask me to take over his paper route for him. I did as she ask and it became my source for model railroading. I wouldn’t have ever looked into a paper route if she hadn’t ask. Her asking me really helped me, at 13 having a job was a good start to life. Even pennies that were mine to do with what I wanted was great. I ended up working 50 years in electronics, never unemployed for 50 years with her help getting me started as a teen.
Great story Mel, and really neat that you still have your first locomotive.
Thanks and regards, Peter
What I find with expenditure on anything money is found from somewhere.
Personally when I got back into model railroading I spent over $1800. Another $1200 on what I thought I needed. Now I know what I want barely $100 a year.
My other hobbies are (pre Covid) cruising and shipping $29,000 per year.
Road Haulage & vehicles etc. around $300 per year.
To Preservation Societies $1500
Then there are other items and projects I am interested in.
As for the younger generations I believe they will find the money they require for the interests they believe in.
The younger generation will not be involved in railroading all their lives. Let's be honest we had other interests also.
All we can do is nurture the young ones and one day (hopefully) they become model railroaders.
What they spend will be purely up to them. Where the technology will be by then will totally blow our mind.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
richhotrain NorthsideChi Reading that these type of threads get locked is just one of many reasons entry into the hobby is intimidating to some. Someone should be able to say, "this hobby costs a ton. Can someone post links to _____ type of setup I want to do?" But I believe posting links to items for sale is also not allowed. So we're just stuck making vague or sometimes overly complicated recommendations at risk of deterring or confusing a potential new hobbiest. Anyone getting into model railroading will find out soon enough. Not long after I retired, I was looking for hobbies to occupy my time. One idea was to get out my American Flyer trains that had been in storage for 45+ years. Bad idea because they no longer ran after my younger brother had abused them. So, I went to a LHS and started to consider HO scale. I bought some sectional track, a DC power pack and a pair of locomotives. I grew tired of the 4x8 oval in less than a day. So, I expanded to an 8x12 layout and added some rolling stock. Before I knew it, I had exceeded $1,000 in just a few short months. Within the first two year period, I had squandered over $10,000 on the hobby. It only got worse from there. Rich
Anyone getting into model railroading will find out soon enough. Not long after I retired, I was looking for hobbies to occupy my time. One idea was to get out my American Flyer trains that had been in storage for 45+ years. Bad idea because they no longer ran after my younger brother had abused them.
So, I went to a LHS and started to consider HO scale. I bought some sectional track, a DC power pack and a pair of locomotives. I grew tired of the 4x8 oval in less than a day. So, I expanded to an 8x12 layout and added some rolling stock.
Before I knew it, I had exceeded $1,000 in just a few short months. Within the first two year period, I had squandered over $10,000 on the hobby. It only got worse from there.
Rich
OK, the grass is cut and some more of the layout room ceiling is up.
I tracked my spending off and on over the years and came up with a yearly average of about $3000.
Even when I was young, I was gradually gathering and building, even during those times with no layout space. And I did belong to a club in those days.
I have been at this since 1968, I have never sold off my stuff and changed scale, or era, or roadnames. In fact, I have only sold about a dozen items that I changed my mind about over the years.
Years of light spending easily made up by years of intense spending - you do the math.
Alton Junction
John-NYBW richhotrain BEAUSABRE Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds Actually, it would make more sense if the handicap calculation were as simple as you stated it. I respectfully disagree. If handicaps were based solely on averages, it would reward the inconsistent player, the guy who can shoot 75 one day and might shoot 90 the next.
richhotrain BEAUSABRE Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds Actually, it would make more sense if the handicap calculation were as simple as you stated it.
BEAUSABRE Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds
Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds
Actually, it would make more sense if the handicap calculation were as simple as you stated it.
I respectfully disagree. If handicaps were based solely on averages, it would reward the inconsistent player, the guy who can shoot 75 one day and might shoot 90 the next.
I don't think recommending ebay or estate sales as sources for inexpensive models is vague. With ebay you can enter a search argument for what you are looking for. True, you'll get a lot of hits that aren't what you wanted, but you'll get plenty that are. I haven't done a lot of estate sales but they can be gold mines, especially if you buy the whole lot or a large portion of it. The person selling is mainly interested in unloading it for whatever they can get for it and will often let it go for a really cheap price. I remember buying an entire lot, keeping what I wanted and selling what I didn't. I ended up getting back pretty much what I paid for it and essentially got the items I wanted to keep for free.
I remember as a young adult in the late 1970s and early 1980s getting carried away with charging my train purchases on credit cards and getting in over my head. At the time, I could justify it by the fact that inflation was running double digits which meant the money I would be paying back would be worth much less what I was borrowing. Credit card interest was 18% and at the time, you could also deduct credit card interest which made running up credit card debt relatively cheap. In the early 1980s, inflation was brought under control, credit card interest could no longer be deducted, and credit card interest rates went into north of 20%. Suddenly carrying credit card debt became very expensive. I took out a debt consolidation loan, paid it off, and ever since have paid off my credit cards in full at the end of every month. I also budget for model railroading rather than spending freely.
Model trains are not any more expensive than any other hobby.
Golf - Clubs cost hundreds of dollars for a set, plus tee fees, clubhouse fees, etc... Few hundred dollars just to hit around a ball...
Video Games - $2000+ for a gaming computer, $800+ for a gaming console, $80+ per title. For video games.
Trains - $200 locomotives with DCC/Sound are out there, $100 DC are available many places. Are they the $40-$80 I paid as a kid in the late 90's? No, but for the value, they are much better than those units.
Photography (My other hobby) - $500-$5000 for a DSLR, lenses anyhere from $250-$8000. Just to take pictures, you could be at $13000, have one camera, one lens, and still take lousy pictures.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Depending on what you want, yeah, model railroading can be expensive. I started out with Varney, Tyco, John English and Globe, and later Athearn and Model Die Casting.I worked a paper route as a kid, and worked weekends for an uncle who owned a lumberyard and a small fruit and vegetable farm. I wasn't making a lot of money, but always had some for a visit to nearby hobbyshops.While I admired a lot of the stuff that I couldn't afford, I stayed with what I could afford, and began to make it better: sometimes with better paint and lettering and sometimes with better details. That wasn't free, of course, but it was affordable.When I finally settled on an era to model, I sold a lot of bargain cars which I had upgraded, and made some very good money, which allowed me to buy more of what I needed, some of which, of course, also needed upgrading.
Train shows and estate sales can offer some pretty-good deals, if you're aware of what items should cost.I have never been interested in DCC, nor in lighted pasenger cars, huge locomotives or craftsmanship structure kits, all of which are beyond my budget.I seldom buy ready-to-run stuff, either, and prefer undecorated cars and locos. Yeah, the paint and lettering isn't free either, but it did allow me to learn how to do my own painting and lettering (and eventually, paint and lettering for others). I never made a lot of money painting for others, mainly because I thought custom painters to be overly greedy (perhaps they weren't, but they were certainly beyond my budget).I also learned how to scratchbuild structures and freight and passenger cars, also not "free", but at least affordable.
Nowadays, I can buy pretty-well anything I want, but there's very little on that list, and none of it expensive.
Wayne
I see another thread gone way off target. This time to the moon.
drgwcs OK this seems like a time for a more humorous thought that the timing seems great on. I also belong to a group called budget model railroading. This week the question was asked what are your other hobbies. Lots of car restorations, muscle cars, boats and other $$$$ hobbies came up. Of course myself being the instigator that my wife says I am piped up with: Now I understand why it is budget model railroading, you all have spent it all on cars and boats........
OK this seems like a time for a more humorous thought that the timing seems great on. I also belong to a group called budget model railroading. This week the question was asked what are your other hobbies. Lots of car restorations, muscle cars, boats and other $$$$ hobbies came up. Of course myself being the instigator that my wife says I am piped up with: Now I understand why it is budget model railroading, you all have spent it all on cars and boats........
As anyone who has been following the recent posts would guess, my other hobby is golf. For me there is golf season and train season and there isn't much overlap. Every year I vow to make time for trains during golf season but rarely do. Weather of course prevents golf from infringing on train season. I used to bowl twice a week during train season but Covid reduced our bowling alley to limited hours that didn't include the mornings when our group bowled. Our bowling alley was recently sold and has now been leveled. We've found a new place but it's much more expensive and we are only going to bowl twice a month.
maxman John-NYBW My favorite exhibit was the 6 iron Alan Shepard used to hit two shots on the moon. I forgot about that. But I was wondering. Did those two balls escape the moon's gravity and keep going?
John-NYBW My favorite exhibit was the 6 iron Alan Shepard used to hit two shots on the moon.
I forgot about that. But I was wondering. Did those two balls escape the moon's gravity and keep going?
I doubt Jack Nicklaus could have knocked it out of the moon's gravity. Alan Shepard swung the club with one hand and naturally with the space suit on, his mobility was severly limted. According to Shepard, he shanked the first one but nailed the second one. He said on earth it would have only gone about 30 yards but went close to 200 in the moon's gravity. Those golf balls are probably still lying on the surface of the moon since there is no atmosphere and no wind to blow lunar soil over the top of them.
I respectfully disagree. If handicaps were based solely on averages, it would reward the inconsistent player, the guy who can shoot 75 one day and might shoot 90 the next. Basing it on your best scores and throwing out the crooked numbers flattens out the handicaps for everybody and rewards the more consistent player. The guy who is consistently in the high 70s or low 80s will have an advantage over the guy who goes low one day and blows up the next. Using averages works in bowling because everybody's scores fluctuate wildly, even the best tour pros. Not so in golf. There are the steady Eddies and the guys who run hot and cold.
maxmanDid those two balls escape the moon's gravity and keep going?
No, that would be impossible for a human being to do even on the moon. The estimated distance the balls travelled is between 2 and 2.5 miles.
Living the dream.
John-NYBWMy favorite exhibit was the 6 iron Alan Shepard used to hit two shots on the moon.
BEAUSABRE Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds (obviously I put my shot into the rough). Speaking of which, I live pretty close to USGA Golf Museum and Library aka Golf House, if you are a serious golfer, or even a fan, it's worth a visit. Visit the Museum (usga.org)
Rich, I know, but I wanted to keep it simple and not crawl through the USGA weeds (obviously I put my shot into the rough). Speaking of which, I live pretty close to USGA Golf Museum and Library aka Golf House, if you are a serious golfer, or even a fan, it's worth a visit.
Visit the Museum (usga.org)
I visited Golf House about 20 years ago and it was awesome. My favorite exhibit was the 6 iron Alan Shepard used to hit two shots on the moon.
About 30 years ago, I was handicap chairman for our small club that played at a public course. Naturally the complaints about handicap were numerous because few understood how it worked. The complaints usually started off "How could my handicap go down when...?". I would patiently try to explain the nuances of the USGA system and also that handicaps can come down a lot faster than they go up. It usually takes an extended streak of bad play for your handicap to go up.
Over the years I've participated in a number of leagues or groups that invent their own handicap system rather than use the time tested USGA system. They think they can come up with a better system by reinventing the wheel. They never do. The USGA system is by far the best whether used in match play or stroke play. It allows any golfer to compete against any other golfer and have a fair match. However, as Sam Snead once said, there is no such thing as a perfectly even match. Somebody is always going to have an edge and he always figure it might as well be Old Sam.
I always liked Rivarossi's line of generic, non-prototypical passenger cars. For those who didn't insist on perfect fidelity to prototypes, they were a good starting point. They were terribly underweighted, had plastic wheels and trucks, truck mounted hornhook couplers, and no interiors or diaphragms. All of these short comings could be remedied with after market modifications at a nominal cost in time and money. I always looked at them as just a car body in need of some TLC. To this day I still occasionally buy these Rivarossi cars with the intention of upgrading them. I can buy them on ebay for between $20-30 and by the time I'm done, I never have more than $40 invested in them. doctorwayne has done some awesome upgrades which he has been kind enough to share with us from time to time.
Lower priced passenger cars and other items are still available.
What's changed is that there a lot of highly detailed, expensive rolling stock items available also. Many of these are very road speciific, even to the point of being detailed for a specific class - which drives up the cost.
When I started in the hobby in 1971, there was less available and less road specific rolling stock. A manufacturer might follow one particular model on one road and then paint it for 20 or so different railroads. Or it might a generic car not specific to any road - again painted for many different railroads. You could use them as they came, or add detail, or repaint, etc. Notice that Accurail still does that and keeps the cost down.
One reason freelancing was popular was that you could use whatever was available. You can still do that today buying whatever is available in your price range.
You can also scratchbuild for a relatively low cost by not getting hung up on buying expensive detail parts. Leave them off or make your own. I can remember making boxcar door handles by bending a piece of wire - sure it wasn't fine detail, but once the car was painted and put on the layout, it looked fine at 3 feet. And unless you run your cars upside down, most underbody detail can be omitted.
I think another thing that has really changed, is that model railroad close up phototgraphy has really improved and has made people believe that everything has to be highly detailed - museum quality. And that's what hobby magazines feature.
But I think the hobby is like art. You can have it be like an impressionest painting that looks good when viewed at 3 or 4 feet. Or it can be like a photograph that you can look at with a magnifying glass. Or somewhere in between.
Paul
rrebell Ulrich One doesn't have to spend alot to enjoy the hobby. I'm at around $900.00..two plain jane Athearn engines, 15 cars, and some track. It is certainly no basement empire, but it is turning into quite a nice 4x8 module with a loop. Stay focussed.. don't buy stuff you don't need, and keep it small. I have about broken even on my railroad and I have a nice but not large layout with about a dozen sound engines and DCC control and even a RTR Walthers turntable and quality track and turnouts fully sceniced. Took many years to get to this spot but it can be done, bargins are out there.
Ulrich One doesn't have to spend alot to enjoy the hobby. I'm at around $900.00..two plain jane Athearn engines, 15 cars, and some track. It is certainly no basement empire, but it is turning into quite a nice 4x8 module with a loop. Stay focussed.. don't buy stuff you don't need, and keep it small.
One doesn't have to spend alot to enjoy the hobby. I'm at around $900.00..two plain jane Athearn engines, 15 cars, and some track. It is certainly no basement empire, but it is turning into quite a nice 4x8 module with a loop. Stay focussed.. don't buy stuff you don't need, and keep it small.
I have about broken even on my railroad and I have a nice but not large layout with about a dozen sound engines and DCC control and even a RTR Walthers turntable and quality track and turnouts fully sceniced. Took many years to get to this spot but it can be done, bargins are out there.
Not me, I have NO interest in turning my modeling hobby into some sort of side business or or buying/selling trading game.
Adjusted for inflation this hobby costs the same as it always has, and past a certain level, it has never been a hobby for the poor. In fact, prices are up some now in this hobby, but a decade or two ago, this hobby was less expensive and more "value added" than it had ever been. On a budget? Shop used stuff from the last 20 years.
I will now return to lawn mowing and layout room construction, from the guy not complaining about the price of model trains, or the lumber needed to get the layout room ready and build the bench work, or the price of gas for the F250 to bring those supplies home.
BUT, I will say one more thing - it is about life style choices - my life style does not include expensive travel vacations, expensive clothes, even the previous big house was not as expensive as many nice homes are. I don't have a boat, jet ski, golf club membership, I sold the house with the swimming pool, I don't buy booze or smokes, my cars are nice but not exotic, I stopped building hot rods decades ago, my cars and house are paid for, my monthly living expenses are less than many peoples mortgages - I can afford model trains.......